Taiwan Strait & Ellsberg
Ellsberg discusses threats of nuclear war in Tiawan Strait crises 2021 and 1958.
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Preparing for Nuclear War with China over Taiwan – 1958 and today

Please join a Zoom session June 23, 6-7:30 PM Central time, when Daniel Ellsberg will compare the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis with current tensions between the US and China. In 1958 the US threatened Communist China with a nuclear first strike if the Communists did not stop shelling Nationalist Chinese forces on two islands, Quemoy and Matsu, just off the mainland. Ellsberg says he believes that US military leaders are likely today recommending a nuclear first strike if China doesn't back down, as in 1958.

Tom Mountenay of Independence, MO, is arrested after crossing the property line at the National Security Campus, a nuclear weapon production facility.--Photo by Bennette Dibben
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons

Why cross the line vs. nukes? ‘To be on the right side of history! And of the Beloved Community’

“I am taking a simple step, an act of love,” said Tom Mountenay, “towards a future when there will be no weapons of war." Tom was saying on Memorial Day why he was going to step across the purple property line on the road to the Kansas City National Security Campus,

Frank Lawrence of the Green Party says that in more than 400 years in US history, “We have had only 16 years when we were not fighting with someone. We are the gods of war.”—Photo by Jane Stoever
PeaceWorks KC Economic justice, Nonviolence, Nuclear weapons

Cosponsors assail war, nuclear weapons

For the first time, PeaceWorks-KC this year asked several groups to cosponsor its Memorial Day observance and share reflections. Theodore John, of Veterans for Peace, said, "I've seen the destruction of conventional war. I can't imagine a nuclear war."

An elders’ circle strung out, cuffed, speaking volumes in silence—after crossing the nuke-plant property line May 31. From left: Henry Stoever, Brian Terrell, Brother Louis Rodemann, Jim Hannah, Tom Mountenay.—Photo by Tom Fox
PeaceWorks KC Nonviolence, Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Memorial Day event: ‘We spoke truth, we cried, we witnessed, we rejoiced’

This Memorial Day was the first time I was able to join PeaceWorks-KC at the National Security Campus, where non-nuclear parts are made for nuclear weapons. It was our 10th annual event there. I was moved by the experience.

Brian Terrell displays red marks from handcuffs placed on him after he crossed the property line May 31 at the Kansas City, Mo., National Security Campus. That's where 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts are made for US nuclear weapons.--Photo by Jane Stoever
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons

“If there are enough shovels to go around”—surviving the nuclear threat

By Brian Terrell “Dig a hole, cover it with a couple of doors and then throw three feet of dirt on top. …  It's the dirt that does it. … If there are enough shovels to go around, everybody's going to make it.” This bit of cheery advice was offered by Thomas K. (T.K.) Jones, … Continue reading “If there are enough shovels to go around”—surviving the nuclear threat

Tulsa-King
Ashes after 1921 Tulsa race massacre vs. 1963 March on Washingtion public domain from Wikimedia Commons
PeaceWorks KC Nonviolence, Racism

Tulsa, Algeria, King, Gandhi

When African American World War I veterans with guns approached a white mob in 1921, the whites responded with massive violence. Over 30 years later, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a nonviolent movement that succeeded in expanding voting rights and open accommodations. Similarly, in the violent Algerian struggle for independence from France, 1954-1962, roughly a million out of 11 million were killed. By contrast, only a few thousand out of 350 million were killed during the nonviolent struggle for independence in India. India since has proudly been the world's largest democracy, while Algeria has struggled with autocracy and anocracy.